Arlington, VA – 1700AM Arlington was officially launched this week and serves as Arlington’s new 24-hour emergency radio station. During a crisis or emergency situation, this station will provide up-to-the–minute updates and information to the public. In addition, the station will offer emergency preparedness information during non-emergency time periods.
Engineers from Columbia Telecommunications Corporation (CTC) assisted Arlington in the development and deployment of this important public information and education resource. CTC’s involvement with the project began with its conceptualization and design to implementation and testing. The firm worked with Arlington County to determine the most effective operational model for incorporating a broadcast station into the overall public notification capabilities of the County, particularly with respect to the Office of Emergency Management.
CTC’s technical design leverages the County's advanced fiber optic network to provide reliable communications between the system's components. The overall design focuses on ease of operations, broadcast quality, and system survivability through critical redundancy. The County will now work with CTC to continue refining the operational model for providing quality, real-time information.
“Our role in the implementation was very hands-on, with our engineers performing all equipment installation and configuration,” said Matthew DeHaven, Senior Engineer for CTC. “Arlington is ensuring that the community is well informed and prepared in the event of an emergency.”
CTC is a nationwide, public interest, communications engineering and planning consulting firm based in the Washington, DC area. Additional offices are located in Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and North Carolina. CTC specializes in planning and deploying communications infrastructure to meet government, public safety, and public needs, including needs for emergency communications. Infrastructure CTC assists with ranges from fiber optics to traditional technologies, such as AM radio, to emerging technologies, such as WiMax.
